Lawn Care Guide
General Lawn Care Tips
The most important point to remember is that your new turf lawn is a mass of plants that need the correct balance of water, sunlight and food to survive. Just like any other living thing, your lawn will be susceptible to pests and diseases but a good maintenance regime will minimise this threat and allow your lawn to thrive.
Mowing Tips
Regular mowing is the most necessary maintenance procedure with any lawn. Mowing your lawn stimulates growth and encourages the development of new shoots leading to a nice thick sward and minimising the space for weeds to grow.
When can I start mowing my new lawn?
Mowing can only begin when the newly laid turf is firmly rooted into the soil; this is usually three to four weeks after laying. Mowing is a stress to the plant so only mow when the grass is dry and never remove more than one third of grass height in one mowing pass. Mower blades must be sharp and correctly set to cleanly cut the grass plants. Incorrectly set and blunt mowers will damage your lawn and infrequent mowing will lead to a decline in lawn quality. This can lead to a sparse lawn prone to disease and weed infestation.
How often should I mow?
The periods of peak grass growth usually occur in the Spring and Autumn. During these times you should really be mowing your lawn at least once a week. In the summer months growth tends to slow as rainfall is limited, so it may only be necessary to mow every other week. Mowing frequency can be reduced in the winter as wet lawns, slow growth and frosts reduce the opportunities to mow.
Mowing Height
The optimum mowing height for Classic Lawn and Budget Lawn is between 25mm - 35mm.
Grass Clippings
It is best to remove grass clippings because they will smother the growth of other grasses and a build up of clippings can eventually create the perfect environment for disease.
Leather Jackets
Leatherjackets are the larvae of the crane fly. They lay their eggs in the turf at the end of summer, hatching shortly afterwards. These small grubs can cause widespread damage to lawns, as they feed aggressively on the roots of the plant. Pesticides previously used to treat leather jackets are no longer available. At certain points in the year, leatherjackets can be found in grass. The company cannot be held responsible for leatherjackets found in the turf. For more information please visit the turfgrass.co.uk website here.
Annual meadow grass (Latin name Poa annua)
Annual meadow grass is frequently found in cultivated turf although not often sown as part of the seed mixture. It generally blends in well with the sown grasses. For more information please visit the turfgrass.co.uk website here.
Lawn Feeding Tips
Your new lawn has three basic requirements: water, sunlight and food. Your lawn needs regular feeding to maintain plant health and colour, encourage new growth and fend off disease.
How often should I feed my lawn?
There are many lawn fertilisers available, each with their own feeding regimes. As a general rule it is best to apply a pre-turfing feed before laying your lawn, in order to give it the best possible start. Once you have laid your lawn, feed twice yearly; once in the spring with a nitrogen rich lawn feed, and once in the autumn with fertiliser high in potash and phosphate.
Fusarium
Tolleshunt Turf is a member of the Turf Growers Association and full details about fusarium can be found here. Below is a summary of what the TGA advise, together with our own findings.
Fusarium is the most common disease of lawns. It occurs during extended periods of warm and wet weather (usually in Autumn) especially in areas of lawn that remain damp with dew all day. It can often occur in newly laid lawns - this is because the turf is under stress following harvesting so susceptibility levels increase.
The first stage of the disease is the appearance of small yellow / brown patches on the lawn followed by a white fungus that rubs off to the touch.
Try not to worry too much as there is little you can do; there are no chemicals available to private gardeners to treat fusarium. The disease may be evident during the winter, but come springtime the affected areas should completely recover.
At times of high susceptibility to fusarium, we treat our turf as a preventative measure to ensure that the disease is not active in turf supplied to you. Unfortunately this does not mean that your lawn will be immune from Fusarium as it can develop anywhere given favourable weather conditions.
To minimise the risk of Fusarium we recommend that you do not use nitrogen rich fertilisers in the Autumn.
For advice on turf laying please see our turf laying guide or contact us by email at enquiries@tolleshuntturf.co.uk